The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 12, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 26, 2000
Kisaburo Hayakawa, Aichi-ken, JP;
Masataka Osawa, Aichi-ken, JP;
Hiroyuki Yoshida, Aichi-ken, JP;
Masuji Oshima, Aichi-ken, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho, Aichi-gun, JP;
Abstract
To calculate a vehicle mass based on a driving force caused by an engine, running resistance, and vehicle acceleration, influence of gradient resistance is removed. A gross driving force calculating section calculates a gross driving force F of a vehicle by deducting running resistance from a driving force of a vehicle caused by an engine. An acceleration sensor calculates a longitudinal acceleration &agr; of the vehicle. Relationship among a gross driving force F, a longitudinal acceleration &agr;, a vehicle mass M, and road gradient &THgr; can be expressed as (&agr;=F/M−g sin &THgr;). Because the change of gradient contains only a low frequency component, by processing a gross driving force F and an acceleration &agr;, using a high-pass filter with a predetermined cut-off frequency, the influence of the gradient &THgr; can be removed. Based on the resultant processed gross driving force F and the processed acceleration &agr;, a vehicle mass can be obtained from the above expression without being affected by the influence of the gradient